Raytheon has reported that it performed tests of its Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) at the Department of Defense’s Utah Training and Test Range in late 2011.

The JLENS is designed to track low-flying cruise missiles, aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The month-long tests were performed to evaluate the performance of the JLENS in this regard.

Live fire tests for the JLENS now beckon, during which it will be tasked with detecting incoming threats and handing that targeting data off to ground-based air defence systems for interception.

Each JLENS system comprises two aerostats tethered at 242 ft (74m) one of which carries a surveillance radar, with the other equipped with a fire control radar.